It's not a badge of honor

My first year in ministry, I lost track of how often I heard someone say, “I can’t believe you don’t burnout.”

At the time, I wore these words as a badge of honor. I heard in them affirmation for all I was doing and for the fullness of our ministry calendar. These words fooled me into believing that more always equals better. They tricked me into believing I was invincible and that there was no end to what I could do.

I believed that right up until the end of that year, when I crashed and burned. My scarred remains taught me a valuable lesson: “I can’t believe you don’t burnout” isn’t actually a compliment.

These days, I hear these words far less than I used to. Yet, whenever they rear their ugly head, I heed them as a necessary (albeit painful) warning that it’s time to reevaluate. You should too.

With that in mind, whenever you hear the phrase, “I can’t believe you don’t burnout”…